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money printing ’

On Monday July 23, 2012, Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain, was a guest on the Real Estate 360 Live radio show on The Big Talker 1580 WHFS AM, hosted by Ryan Sloper.

Listen to the show.

Part 1 (14:42)

Ryan discusses the Spanish debt crisis. Ryan and Louis discuss the low interest rates of German and US bonds. Louis notes that the low rates highlight investors’ demand for “safety” even though yields are below the stated official inflation rate. Louis notes that because rates are artificially low, it is good for those who want to take out long term low interest mortgages.

Louis and Ryan note that the US interest rates are being kept low because the US government can not afford to pay its debt if interest rates were higher. Louis notes that the US treasuries becomes by default the safe haven because the US is the largest sovereign and also because gold, silver and real estate (arguably safer investments) are more thinly traded and less widely held.

Louis notes that even municipal bonds are being preferred by investors seeking safety even though municipalities have limited means of raising revenues and are bankruptcy risks.Louis notes that Spain’s 7%+ interest rates are an example of what a sovereign must pay if its investors are concerned about its inability to pay principal and interest back.

Louis notes that the US rates are not near 7% because the US can print the difference. Louis notes however by doing so becomes in effect a default as the investors received debased currency in return. Louis notes that low interest rate punish savers who would help their economy by savings and that low interest rates encourage consumption which does not help the economy because people consuming are doing so with borrowed money.

Louis notes that the low interest rate environment helps the banks, the government and the rich. Louis notes that perhaps deflation is preferable for those on fixed incomes. Louis notes when prices go higher the only way to afford higher prices is to take out a loan.Continue reading this post

On Monday May 14, 2012, Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain, was a guest on the Real Estate 360 Live radio show on The Big Talker 1580 WHFS AM, hosted by Ryan Sloper.

Listen to the show.

Part 1 (14:47)

Ryan notes that one of the Facebook co-founders is renouncing his US citizenship to avoid taxation. Louis notes that the US is the only country that lays a claim on its citizens’ world wide income. Louis notes that if the US wants to be competitive world wide they need to reconsider their taxation policies.Louis that for over 100 years people from all over the world wanted to come to the United States.

Louis notes that the powers in Europe are spending a lot of money to keep Greece in the Euro. Louis notes that RE Radio discusses events in Europe because they have a direct impact on US interest rates. Louis notes that opposition parties in Europe are against austerity programs and that the situation in Europe helps the US as Europe has to debase the Euro by printing more money to bail out its member states. Louis notes that the US is also in the race to debase.

Louis notes that JP Morgan’s losses are probably greater than the $2 billion stated. Louis notes that this situation may pose the need for another bailout, which if were to occur would probably drive more investors into the “safety” of US treasuries and drive interest rates lower.

Louis notes that the journalist coverage of JP Morgan’s trading loss is general and that the specifics are not know. Louis speculates that the loss if probably far greater than reported to date. Louis notes that JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon is on the board of the NY Federal Reserve. Louis notes that the Federal Reserve is a private bank. Louis notes that depositors don’t keep tabs on their banks’ trading activities because they are satisfied with FDIC insurance. Louis notes the revolving door between the big banks and the US government.

On Monday April 9, 2012, Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain, was a guest on the Real Estate 360 Live radio show on The Big Talker 1580 WNEW AM, hosted by Ryan Sloper.

Listen to the show.

Part 1 (14:46)

Ryan and Louis discuss the jobs report. Ryan notes that the unemployment rate actually dipped even though more people are unemployed as the participation rate in the labor force has dropped. Louis notes that once a worker is classified as no longer in the labor force, they are no longer considered “unemployed”.

Louis notes the disconnect between companies doing well and consumers doing well. Louis notes that the stock market is up in part because companies with a lot of cash are purchasing their own stock. Louis also notes that companies are in a different position than consumers as many companies are not in debt and have huge cash balances while many consumers have little cash and large debt balances.

Louis notes that Apple’s over performance makes the overall market appear to be doing better than it is. Louis notes that perhaps Apple is overvalued. Ryan notes that many companies have their cash overseas. Louis notes that companies also hold US treasuries and that when they decide to free up their cash, they will have to sell their US Treasuries which will put downward pressure on those securities. Louis notes that 61% of US Treasuries last year were bought by the Federal Reserve.

Louis notes that the US government engages in deficit spending and relies upon the Federal Reserve to print money to purchase the US Treasuries to fund the spending. Louis notes that up to 20-30 years ago most of the US Treasuries were bought domestically by US companies and individuals.

More recently China and Japan bought large percentages of US Treasury issuances, however in the past two or three years they have cut their purchases of US Treasuries. Louis notes that the US government has increased spending each year which means it relies more heavily on debt issuances to fund its spending-debt issuances that are increasingly purchased by the Federal Reserve Bank. Louis notes that if the Federal Reserve was not buying the debt, interest rates would be much higher.

Ryan notes that the Federal Reserve can’t continue to be the purchaser of last resort forever. Louis notes that the Atlantic is calling Ben Bernanke a hero and that Paul Krugman is arguing that inflation is too low! Louis notes that Krugman thinks that because money is cheap that we should be spending more of it. Louis argues that is akin to telling someone the morning after who is hungover to have more beers because they are cheaper in the morning than they were last night. Louis notes that the less money you make the greater percentage food and energy are as part of your budget.

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